Harry Potter and the Vulnerability Charm Part II

Chapter 8: Plot

When Snape picks Harry up from the front door, the six year old is sleepily rubbing his eyes and stumbling around like a drunkard. The teacher narrows his eyes, catching Harry before he can trip over the step. Staring into his little boy's eyes, he sees them half-lidded and glassy. "Are you okay love?" he caresses Harry's smooth hair and hugs him close, stiffened with worry.

"Daddy... sleepy..." Harry whines and rubs his eyes.

Lestrange looms over them at the door, grinning down at Severus wickedly. "The poor boy came down with something," she sighs sadly, a pout lingering on her face. "I gave the same dinner to my Tommy, I hope they don't have food poisoning..."

Snape narrows his eyes suspiciously at Lestrange, reminding himself to ask Dumbledore exactly what he's found in his background search of her. But Harry is in one piece and little kids get sick and tired when they have new experiences like this. "Alright, thank you," he picks Harry up, something he doesn't do so much with the older kid anymore.  Squeezing him a little tighter than normal, protective instincts overshadowing reason.

"Come on little one, let's go home,"

*

"How is he?" Dumbledore asks after Harry has been put to bed this evening. The child curls up and clutches the blankets, writhing in his fitful sleep. His Daddy knows he's having a nightmare and whispers soothing words to him, hoping to calm him in his sleep. Snape refuses to leave his son's side even as his eyes sag deep with fatigue.

When they returned, he asked Dumbledore to attend his quarters to discuss what happened at Lestrange. He also had Madame Pomfrey check Harry for any magical interference with his physiology - a hex or curse or spell. She found nothing.

"He doesn't remember much about his visit... he does seem quite ill," Snape sighs. "Did you discover anything from your investigations on Lestrange?"

"There isn't any record of Lestrange adopting a child. Nor does the name 'Tommy' or 'Tom' match the databases of any Wizarding or Muggle orphanages in the UK for someone his age who has gone missing or been adopted at all," Dumbledore admits, his own voice evident of confusion.

Lupin, who sits preciously in the corner chair, looks up from his newspaper. He rocks forward a little, giving Dumbledore a questioning look. "In that case, the question remains. Where did she get a child?"

"He seems to have popped into thin air," Dumbledore shakes his head with as much confusion as the rest. Though he opens his mouth once again, he hesitates and closes it. Holding back.

"What are you thinking?" Snape asks suspiciously. "Don't keep secrets from my, Professor. Need I remind you that the safety of my son is at stake?"

Harry stirs when he hears his Daddy raise his voice. Snape reaches over and soothes him, brushing his hair back off his forehead. It reveals the stark, evident scar. With a deep exhale, the sleeping child calms down. His Daddy looks up at Dumbledore with uncompromising determination.

"This is too important for you to neglect, Professor Dumbledore," he states with finality, devotion to his son overriding any conflicting emotion. "If you have any other information - even a theory - tell me now,"

"As you wish, Severus," the headmaster sighs solemnly. "I do have a theory on what may have happened,"

*

Bellatrix Lestrange never understood those who insulted her appearance. Who called her haggard, ugly, a mess. As she stares at herself in the mirror now, she sees someone accomplished. Regal. Ruthless. The perfectly refined qualities of a Death Eater and soon, the Queen of Darkness and Death. The second Voldemort. A working title.

"Such a delight to have this information," she turns on her heels to face the other Death Eaters, several of them crowding the small room in silent anticipation, like vultures circling a dying carcass. "As it happens, Dumbledore allowed secret passages to flow around the castle - specifically to the Gruffindor common too. And as it happens, these are the only places in Hogwarts school in which apparation isn't protected against,"

Conspiratorial murmurs fill the room, each hooded figure impressed by her findings. They're filled with newfound respect for who they previously considered a raving lunatic subordinate to their Lord and underserving of her title.

But she has managed to lure the child of Professor Snape into her home, drug him and give him truth-serum, asking him questions about Hogwarts and it's inner workings.

"The only consideration is, we must be accurate to the exact moment when infiltrate the castle. Anywhere else, the castle is protected. I'm sure there will be some protections to alert the guarding system," she thinks quietly to herself. A Cheshire grin spreads across her face. "But never fear. I have a plan,"

A foolproof plan. Apparently so. Or it would be if she had the good sense to lock the door to her study. From a tiny crack in the open door, Tommy peeks through and listens with intent. The little boy loves spy novels, and sneaking around these strange hooded figures is very spy-like. Maybe he'll discover an underground plot to topple the government!

Or maybe, to topple Hogwarts.

"And once Harry Potter is killed, the power shall be restored to us through Lord Voldemort's spell,"

Holding in his gasp, even his breath, so as to remain silent and undetected, Tommy rushes back to his room with tiny footsteps. Did they say... Jill Harry?! But Harry is his friend! He curls up under his filthy bedcovers, terrified. He plans to tell Harry everything as soon as he can!

And that won't be too long away, for Lestrange's self-acclaimed 'foolproof' plan is to send Tommy into Hogwarts as her investigator, under the guise of a play date with Harry. Once inside the castle walls, the little boy is to sneak away from the adults and discover the points of entry to each hides passageway.

Lestrange may not know the meaning of the word 'foolproof', as such a plan has many loose ends. And one single loose end of thread can unravel the entire plot.